CONTOUR LAKE MAPS

[marshmallow]

I am a big fan of these and I don't own a G.P.S...I have a buddy who claims lake maps are outdated and people that use them are Dumb !#!!#!.. He also claims bait shops should not sell them anymore.. I use lake maps very often.. They are fun to look at and very useful..With a depth finder and// or clip on and an open mind and a little EFFORT.. This guy is bent on lake maps and people that use them.. Like he says, no G.P.S. you are screwed and should not be fishing.. STUCTURE,CONTOURS,How about a lake map..

[DaMoose]

I have both. I personally use the lake maps to find good locations, then use the gps once I have found those spots in the summer. Then I use the gps in the winter along with the lake maps. I think the lake maps are becoming overlooked as a great source of information. I personally will continue to use them.

[Esox_Magnum]

I use both, even with lake chips each year can be a little different, same with brands of maps.

[mn_bowhunter]

Think of someone on vacation from out of state. You think they'll buy a $100 chip for one time use? I bought a paper devils lake map and paper sabaskong bay map since the cost of the chip wasn't justified imo. Chips are nice, but what do you do if your GPS breaks or the batteries die? Had that happen the day I broke my power cord.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I always have a print out of the lake I'm on. Its nice to glance at the whole lake printed out on am 8 1/2 x 11 or an 11 x 17. If I fish it a lot than a will laminate the printout for durability.

[servocam]

Marshmallow

I use the contoured lake maps from the MN DNR - they are FREE! I then overlay them on Google Map for land marker reference. I also use the GPS on my CrackBerry to plot where I am at on the lake. I can also save and even email the location to myself for future use.

Become pretty resourceful when don't have all the gadgets. Here, check this one out that I did for Shields Lake (Pond) - gives you idea:

Here is a sample GPS spot I saved and emailed to myself. Now I can just use the saved spot on my phone, and renavigate to it!

[jwmiller33]

servocam---thats really neat! how did you get the lake contour map on top of the google map? thats a great idea! do you have a program you use or....?

i use lake maps all the time... whenever i am going to hit up a new lake, or a lake i havent fished in a while, i will go to the DNR's HSOforum and look over the contour map and get some spots in mind that i want to fish

[servocam]

servocam---thats really neat! how did you get the lake contour map on top of the google map? thats a great idea! do you have a program you use or....?

i use lake maps all the time... whenever i am going to hit up a new lake, or a lake i havent fished in a while, i will go to the DNR's HSOforum and look over the contour map and get some spots in mind that i want to fish

I use MS Office and maybe Paint. Use Print Screen (Prnt Scrn), Copy, Paste functions. Nice thing about Google Maps, is the lakes I fish, just so happen to be frozen in the Satelite view. For example, Clear Lake and Forest Lake, you can zoom in, and it shows you ice shacks on the lake! Now I know where to fish - just go where everyone else is. :-)

Some of the DNR maps are hard to read and I may use the ToMo view from the DNR, but much more difficult to overlay.

Q: Give me a lake name, and I'll give you a tutorial of how to do it.

[magic_minnow]

Lake maps are great. But remember how we used to fish w/o the maps? Sometime you just gotta go with your intuition and gold ol elbow grease: punch a hole, look w/ vex/camera. If I had a choice, YES i would use lake maps all the time, but batteries fail, screens crack and things fall down the hole. On a side note, SERVOCAM thats pretty cool!

[BobT]

Unless man gets involved with special dredging equipment, I believe lakemaps don't really get outdated in one's lifetime. New ones may be more detailed and accurate but the old ones are as usesful as they have always been.

My Lakemaster maps have proven to be very accurate. So much so that I can use them to work an edge with uncanny accuracy. Whether that improves my success ratio...well...their nice to have along anyway.

[Surreal Deal]

This guy is bent on lake maps and people that use them.. Like he says, no G.P.S. you are screwed and should not be fishing..

I wish people like this would spend more time at work, desperately trying to earn enough money to buy all the stuff those Saturday morning fishing shows are selling, so that I'd have a little more peace and quiet out there on the lake!

I am a caveman and proud of it!

[Fishinguy40]

Originally Posted By: jwmiller33

servocam---thats really neat! how did you get the lake contour map on top of the google map? thats a great idea! do you have a program you use or....?

i use lake maps all the time... whenever i am going to hit up a new lake, or a lake i havent fished in a while, i will go to the DNR's HSOforum and look over the contour map and get some spots in mind that i want to fish

I use MS Office and maybe Paint. Use Print Screen (Prnt Scrn), Copy, Paste functions. Nice thing about Google Maps, is the lakes I fish, just so happen to be frozen in the Satelite view. For example, Clear Lake and Forest Lake, you can zoom in, and it shows you ice shacks on the lake! Now I know where to fish - just go where everyone else is. :-)

Some of the DNR maps are hard to read and I may use the ToMo view from the DNR, but much more difficult to overlay.

Q: Give me a lake name, and I'll give you a tutorial of how to do it.

Servocam, that is great but I need your tutorial also. I tried cut and past but can't seem to get the top layer to be "see through". The top layer seems to totally cover the bottom layer.

[irishwalleye]

very very very cool idea servocam!!! well done indeed

[hydro]

Here's another slice at the map/picture idea. I did this in Serif's DrawPlus 8 with the background on the base layer and the DNR contour on layer 2. I set the map transparency level to clear. The background is from the county GIS mapping, available on their HSOforum, just saved as a jpg picture and pasted in. You can see the inherent error in the DNR map relative to the photograph contour.

[McGurk]

The DNR maps may not be all that accurate, but you get what you pay for (actually way more than you pay for). If you don't like what the DNR or baitshop are offering, you don't have to use them, but I don't see lakemaster scanning every lake in the state in the near future as the DNR has. Actually, I think they take the DNR maps and scan them in for the vast majority of their basic maps. I do like what they offer in their high def lakes, though, and use them myself.

[marshmallow]

Society..and fisher people have done just fine without G.P.S. over the decades..I use, and support,the whole lake map resource..The buddy I mentioned about in this post has NEVER EVER takin a picture,or purchased a lake map in the 20+ years I have fished with him..Thanks for the feed back fellas..

[servocam]

Hydro figured it out! That is pretty much how I do it. Usually just do it in Word, but you can also use Corel Draw, PhotoShop, or another Graphics program.

Step 1: Find a lake. I am going to use Clear Lake near Forest lake. Do a Google Search for City where the lake is or go to Google Maps and find the lake. This case, I will Google 55025 (zip for Forest lake). Click on the Map http://maps.google.com/maps?q=55025&...ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA

Step 2: Zoom in to the lake so it fits on your screen. Click on Satellite view to get real look at the ground/lake. Do a Print Screen (or Alt Print Screen for just the active window). Can also be called Prnt Scrn. If full keyboard, pry above the number pad. If laptop, love above F9, F10, F11, F12, Delete...upper right. Or it is somewhere on your laptop.

This is what the print screen will look like:

Step 3: Open up MS Word (for this case, other software can be used). Do a Ctrl + V or Edit > Paste. It should look like this:

Step 4: Crop out the extra stuff you don't need. This can be done so by using the tools on the Picture toolbar. It should pop-up when you click on the image. If not, go to View > Toolbars, and check the Picture one (or right click on another and select it). Toolbar looks like this:

You click on the Map picture, click on the Crop button in the Picture toolbar, and then drag in the sides so that only the lake is shown. Once you crop'd the picture, you will probably want to stretch it back out, aka resize. You can click off the picture, and then back on the picture. Grab a corner (don't do sides or you mess with the proportions). Resize so it fits on the screen.

Now you may want to also change the margins and the layout of the page so you can use more of the page. I usually do Landscape and shrink the margins down to 0.5 inch each.

Step 5: Go find your DNR map. I grabbed the PDF of Clear Lake. Saved it to my computer, and opened it up. It looks like this:

Step 6: Zoom in/out so the lake fits your screen. Using the Snapshot tool (the one that looks like a camera with a dashed box around it, next to the Zoom Percentage), highlight the lake. Now that it is highlighted, do a Ctrl + C or Copy. Would look like this:

Still with me here? Clear as mud? If it was a .TIFF or other Image file, we would of skipped this previous step.

Step 7: Open up Paint (Found in Start > All Programs > Accessories > then Paint). Do a Paste / Ctrl+V (you may have to say Yes to the box that pops up about size), then do a Copy / Ctrl+C.

Step 8: Go back to Word, and Paste (Ctrl + V or Edit > Paste). This should of pasted the contour map in to word. No don't panic because your other picture disappeared or you can't see it. First, right click on the picture and click on Format Picture. Click on the "Layout" tab and select "In front of text." Now this is where the Set Transparent Color tool comes in. Click on the contour image you pasted, then click on the Set Transparent Color tool. Then click on the White part of the contoured picture. Taa-Daa!

Now just move the contour image around and resize and rotate to it matches as best as possible.

DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE IT TO YOUR PC

This is should give you the idea anyways. Geez...I should have just done a ScreenPlay video for you with audio commentary, which would of pry been quicker.

[Brad B]

the one thing that lake maps and even the chips don't account for is the rise or fall of the lake water level. I seen as much as a 2 foot difference in the depth. I was on clearwater and the lakemaster chip said it should be 5 feet but my depth finder was reading only 3 feet. but they are both helpful since they will get you close to the area you want to fish and from there you can fine tune it down to a specific spot using your depth finder (open water fishing) or flasher (ice fishing)

[servocam]

the one thing that lake maps and even the chips don't account for is the rise or fall of the lake water level. I seen as much as a 2 foot difference in the depth. I was on clearwater and the lakemaster chip said it should be 5 feet but my depth finder was reading only 3 feet. but they are both helpful since they will get you close to the area you want to fish and from there you can fine tune it down to a specific spot using your depth finder (open water fishing) or flasher (ice fishing)

Also forget sometimes that the transducer is hanging 2ft down in the water too. They get you in the map at least gets you in the right area. The one I did for Shields Lake was pretty accurate.

[BartmanMN]

Thanks for the instructions. I will need to do that. Always nice have actual points on land for reference.

[reddsixx]

Thanks, servo. This will be very helpful.

[DT10 Guy]

Hey Servo,

Thanks for this great mapping tip, however, I am getting stuck right at the end. I never see the google map version after i click the Set Transparent Color tool. Can you explain that in more detail for me.

Sorry, I am a little slow

DT10

[willyfahey]

Awesome instructions. This will be very helpful.

[servocam]

Hey Servo,

Thanks for this great mapping tip, however, I am getting stuck right at the end. I never see the google map version after i click the Set Transparent Color tool. Can you explain that in more detail for me.

Sorry, I am a little slow

DT10

It may have to do with order. Right Click on the Image > Order > "Bring to Frong" or "Send to Back"

- if that does not work, then it could be due to format. You may need to Right-Click on the images > Format Picture > click the Layout tab, and select "In front of text"

[shizzy]

I also had issues. Im running Vista if that had anything to do with it.

after two more beers, a smoke and a few deep breaths. I figured out you need to be putting the contour map on top and then make the white on the contour map transparent.